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Riggleman, Wedge disagree on ruling

Riggleman, Wedge disagree on ruling

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By Andrew Gribble
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MLB.com |

CLEVELAND -- If he's going by the book, Seattle manager Jim Riggleman thinks Eric Wedge had to argue the call that prolonged the Mariners' two-run 10th inning and led to the Tribe manager's fourth ejection of the season on Saturday.

But that doesn't mean Riggleman is obligated to agree with the book.

The Mariners had already taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the 10th inning when Jose Lopez, facing Jensen Lewis, hit a bouncing grounder to short that hit Adrian Beltre, who was running from second to third.

Beltre momentarily stopped his stride before getting hit. Riggleman said he couldn't tell if Beltre did it on purpose or not, which ended up preventing what could have likely been a double play. Jamie Burke followed with a single to add an insurance run, which ended up paying big dividends as the Tribe added a run in the bottom half of the inning.

"[Beltre] stopped, put his hand up and intentionally hit the baseball," Wedge said. "If that's the case, it's an automatic double play. And that's what it should have been."

Rule 7.09(f) states that if a runner deliberately interferes with a batted ball with the intent of breaking up a double play, the runner and the batter must both be ruled out.

According to that rule, "Eric's got a great argument," Riggleman said. "You've got to argue that."

Riggleman brought up the example that double plays cannot be assumed when recording errors. If an errant throw to second base prevents an infielder from turning a clean double play, an error is not recorded.

"In this case, the argument is you can assume the double play," Riggleman said. "It kind of contradicts that."

Andrew Gribble is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.